


Opalescent

by ExtraSteps



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Liam and Theo are cursed by a witch, Liam doesn't handle it well, M/M, Mood ring hair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 09:51:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14952390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtraSteps/pseuds/ExtraSteps
Summary: Liam is cursed to have mood ring hair by a witch. For someone who has no control over his emotions, it's a disaster.





	Opalescent

Apparently teenage witches could be vindictive if you pissed them off, who knew? Certainly not Liam Dunbar, who hadn't even meant to hit _her_ with his biology textbook. He'd been aiming at Theo, who was looking at him with his stupid smug face just because Liam didn't understand whatever he was explaining. Was it his fault that Theo was an arrogant douchecanoe and a rubbish mentor? 

Now, not only was he in detention, but his hair, his beautiful beautiful hair had been cursed. Literally the only positive was that Theo was in the same boat. He'd laughed so hard when the witch had cursed him that the librarian had given him detention as well, and the witch had cursed him from behind.

Liam glared at the back of Theo's head, still it's usual brown. Unfortunately, Theo had a much tighter rein on his emotions than Liam did. Liam, on the other hand, currently had an even split of red and green hair. He'd managed to examine it briefly with his phone before it had been confiscated by the teacher. He was pretty sure it was equal parts anger and envy, and he slumped against the desk with a groan. This _sucked_.

Theo turned his head at his groan, raising an eyebrow at him. "What's up with your hair?"

Liam blinked, looking up at him. "The witch cursed it," he said, irritated.

"Yes, I know that idiot, I was there. I mean, why is it two colours?" Theo snarked back.

"Two emotions, two colours," Liam said, hiding his face back in his arms and ignoring him.

He could almost smell Theo's confusion. "But, you only feel one emotion at at time," he muttered, sounding uncertain.

"Maybe if you're a freak," Liam mumbled under his breath.

Theo ignored him after that, and Liam entertained himself by alternating between glaring at the back of Theo's head and looking at the clock.

Finally, it was almost time to leave, and Liam grew more and more excited as the minute hand inched closer to the 12. Theo turned to look at him and snorted.

"What?" Liam snapped.

"Your hair," Theo sniggered. "It's bright yellow."

"Fuck off," Liam muttered.

Theo's eyes drifted up, smirking. "Now it's partly red as well. Your hair literally looks like flames. This is the best day of my life."

Liam stood up, eyes narrowed as he glared down at Theo. He’d never handled people laughing at him well, and Theo was getting right under his skin, attacking the one thing that Liam had never been able to control. His emotions.

The witch couldn’t have chosen a worse curse if she tried.

"Red and black," Theo smirked. "Wow, you really have no control, do you?"

It was the final straw. Liam could feel himself getting angrier and angrier, and the teacher approached him warily. "Mr Dunbar, why don't you head out now?" She suggested.

His eyes flicked up at her, and he could feel himself going dark. He nodded, turning on his heel and storming out of the room. Thankfully the halls were empty, and Liam made it all the way outside without damaging property or punching anyone's face in.

He leaned against the wall, looking up at the sky, claws digging into his palms as he tried to breathe, the black slowly, slowly receding.

"Liam?" he heard Theo ask tentatively.

"You shouldn't be near me right now, Theo," Liam said in a wooden voice. "I'm not in a good place."

"I was only teasing," Theo said quietly.

Liam nodded. But rationality never helped, not with this. Only time and space would help him to calm down.

"Please go," he whispered.

"I'll see you at home," Theo said, turning to leave.

By the time Liam had walked home he felt a lot calmer. Even Theo's truck in the driveway didn't cause a reaction. He always felt a bit numb after one of his attacks, apart from the guilt of course. Thankfully, he'd done nothing really bad this time. He was pretty sure Theo would survive Liam telling him to fuck off without it ruining their friendship. He told Theo to fuck off at least ten times a day, so it wasn't anything new for them. He might feel a sense of responsibility for the chimera, and there possibly, maybe might be something that could vaguely be referred to as friendship between them, but no one knew how to get under his skin and press every button like Theo did. He was a jerk, plain and simple.

Liam opened the door, kicking off his shoes and taking off his jacket. He then made his way straight up to his room and flopped into the middle of his bed, lying face down.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

"Liam, sweetie, are you okay?" His mother asked, her voice muffled slightly by the door.

"Yeah," he responded, his voice dull.

"Theo said you had an attack," she said. Liam sighed.

"Yeah, but I didn't hurt anyone," he said.

"Oh honey," she said sadly. She opened the door, moving into the room to sit on the bed beside him. He felt her fingers moving through his hair, gently stroking. "Can I get you anything?" She asked quietly.

The sound in her voice made Liam feel guilty, and he heard his mum gasp. "Liam, your hair!" She said, examining it between her fingers.

"Yeah," Liam sighed. "I was cursed by a witch and then I got detention. It's been a really shitty day."

"Cursed?" She shrieked.

"It's just turned my hair into a mood ring mum, it's not that bad," Liam said. Well, it was pretty bad, but at least he wasn't a frog or something.

"But your hair is maroon," she said, her voice still high.

Liam took a mental note. Maroon equals guilt. "Yep," he said. "Can I mope in peace now?"

"Sure sweetie," she said, standing up and letting herself out. Liam heard her muttering all the way down the stairs. "Maroon? Maroon?!"

Of course, his peace lasted for about five seconds. "Hey," Theo said, hovering by the door. Liam rolled onto his back with a groan.

"What do you want?" Liam asked.

"I wanted to apologise," Theo said.

Liam waited, eventually craning his neck to look at him. "Go on then," he said.

"What?" Theo asked.

"You said you wanted to apologise, so do it," Liam said, frowning at him.

"I just did," Theo pointed out.

"That's not an apology," Liam said with a roll of his eyes. "You have to actually say the words, Theo."

Theo blinked, looking at him. "Humans are weird," he said. Liam just raised an eyebrow at him. "Right," Theo said, flushing. Liam's eyes flicked up as the very tips of his hair turned pink. He smirked but said nothing. "I'm sorry," Theo muttered.

"Apology accepted," Liam said. "Now fuck off."

He took great pleasure from getting off the bed, walking to the door and shutting it in Theo's face.

"Rude," Theo muttered, walking off down the hall to his own room.

***

The smell of garlic roused Liam from his nap, and he followed it down the hall and into the kitchen. "what are you cooking?" He asked sleepily. "Smells great."

"Great timing," Jenna said, kissing his cheek. "Pasta with garlic bread."

"Awesome," he said, smiling at her. She patted his cheek affectionately.

"Set the table for me?"

He nodded, pulling some cutlery and plates out of their respective cupboards and moving into the dining room. He set it nicely, even finding some napkins and folding them neatly around the cutlery. His mum beamed at him as he walked in with the pot of pasta. "It looks amazing sweetheart. Go and get Theo and David for me?" She asked.

"Sure," he said, blushing lightly. Again, Jenna's eyes drifted up to his hair, and Liam sighed.

"It's pink isn't it?" He grumbled.

"Yep," she said, looking concerned. "It's sort of a pastel pink?"

"Better than hot pink I suppose," he sighed, walking off down the hall.

He knocked on the door to the office. "Dinner's ready."

David opened the door. "Thanks kiddo," he said, ruffling Liam's hair, pausing as he examined. "New look?"

"Something like that," Liam shrugged.

"It's... interesting," David offered.

Liam nodded. He needed to find this witch and apologise to her immediately. This hair situation was getting ridiculous. He moved down the hall to Theo's room, knocking politely. There was no answer.

"Theo?" He called.

Still nothing. Liam opened the door at the same time as Theo entering it from the other door that led to their shared bathroom. He was naked, covered only by a towel that slung low around his hips. Very low.

"Um," Liam said, eyes glued to the trail of hair that lead down.

"What do you want?" Theo asked, sounding annoyed.

"Dinner's ready," Liam whispered. He dragged his eyes back up to his face, finding Theo looking at his hair and smirking.

"Hot pink?" He asked, sniffing. "What's that one for?"

Liam whirled out of the room before Theo could get close enough to smell him, slamming the door shut behind him. He knew exactly what emotion it represented. _Lust._

It never ceased to amaze him that his body could have such a strong reaction to someone that Liam didn't even _like_ most of the time, but there was no denying that Theo was hot. Liam had functioning eyes. It was just his personality that was a turn off. Mostly. Sort of.

Liam stalked back down the hallway, trying desperately to clear his mind.

By the time Theo joined them for dinner, he'd managed to fight it back down to a pastel pink. Theo sniffed at him as he sat down, eyes narrowed, but all he could smell was embarrassment. Liam could live with that.

***

At school the next day, Liam looked everywhere for the witch.

"Have you seen her?" He begged the boy who normally sat next to her in Biology. He didn't know his name, or the witches name for that matter.

"Seen who?" He asked, looking at him like he was crazy.

"The witch," Liam insisted. "She sits next to you in Bio."

"Sabrina?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at him. "Why? And don't call her names, it's not nice."

Mason walked up just then, slinging an arm around Liam's shoulders. "Hey Liam, Harvey. What are you guys talking about?"

"I'm trying to find Sabrina," Liam muttered. "She cursed me."

"Is that why your hair is like," Mason paused, looking for the word, "uh, like a browney-orange?"

"You're gay, aren't you supposed to know colours?" Liam asked him with a sigh.

"Dude, that's such a stereotype," Mason said.Corey walked up to join them.

"Liam, why is your hair puce?" Corey asked him, nose wrinkled up in distaste. Liam shot a triumphant look at Mason, who just rolled his eyes.

"Because Sabrina cursed me, and now I'm asking my friend Harvey, here, where she is," Liam explained, looking back at Harvey. The boy was staring at the three of them, looking deeply confused.

"Um, she's not at school today dude. She's sick." And with that pronouncement, he wandered off.

"No," Liam groaned dramatically.

"Now it's neon orange," Corey frowned. "Gross. Liam, that is not a good look for you."

"What do I do?" Liam asked them, panic starting to overwhelm him. If he didn't find Sabrina and apologise and get her to take away the curse, then Theo would find out that Liam maybe possibly had the hots for him, and his whole life would be _ruined_ . 

"Why is it such a big deal?" Mason asked. "I think it's sort of neat."

"Maybe for you," Liam said, "but I have like no control over my emotions as is. I don't need to broadcast them to the world."

"Ah," Mason said, nodding. "This is about a girl. Right, spit it out, who is it?"

"There's no girl," Liam snapped. "That is not what this is about at all."

"Boy then," Corey smirked.

Mason looked surprised. "A boy?"

"Oh yeah, definitely a boy," Corey smirked. They both looked at Liam, who was staring past them to where Theo was standing at the end of the hallway, taking his books out of his locker. Corey swiveled his head, following his gaze. "That boy."

"Oh my god," Mason said. "Oh. My. God."

"Shut up," Liam hissed. "Fuck, shut up Mason."

Corey looked back at him. "Pink," he observed. "Now that _is_ a good look for you." 

Liam grabbed both of them by the arm and dragged them down the hallway before they could say anything else incriminating within Theo's earshot.

“So, Theo huh?” Corey smirked.

“Wait, you’re okay with this?” Mason asked.

“You’re not?” Corey shot back. “They live together, have been for ages now, and Theo has not done one single evil thing.”

Liam made a noise of disagreement. Corey looked at him questioningly. “He hogs the bathroom all the time,” Liam ranted. “And he’s unbeatable at COD, like it’s ridiculous. And don’t even get me started on how much more my mum loves him than me.”

Corey looked unimpressed. “Wow,” he drawled. “His evil knows no bounds.”

Mason snickered. “Yeah, okay, you have a point,” he said to Corey. “He’s definitely changed a lot.”

Liam sighed. It was true, Theo had changed. He was no longer a bad guy, just a far too attractive, bathroom hogging, jerk. That Liam was pretty well infatuated with.

“My life is over,” he groaned.

***

Somehow he managed to get through the school day without any major incidents. Unfortunately, that meant it was now the weekend. Liam would be stuck in a house with Theo for two full days, his hair broadcasting his every emotion loud and clear.

To be fair, his chemo-signals and heart beat already gave him away fairly easily, but it seemed supremely unfair that now his hair was betraying him as well.

He sat in Theo's truck, staring out the window, feeling depressed.

"Why so grey?" Theo asked, ruffling a hand through his hair. "It's the weekend. Normally, you're just about vibrating with excitement."

"I'm just sick of this stupid curse," Liam muttered.

"It could be worse," Theo pointed out.

"Easy for you to say," Liam said, turning to glare at him. "You can control your emotions so it doesn't affect you at all."

Theo blinked. "Is that why you've been so angry with me the past few days?" He asked.

Liam stared at him incredulously, thinking back to every time he'd been around Theo in the past two days. His hair had been a deep red tinged with pink nearly every single time. How had Theo misread that?

"Um, yes," he said, looking away again quickly, hoping that Theo took his curtness for anger.

"Well if it makes you feel better, I'll loosen my control a bit," Theo offered. "And then on Monday we'll track down whatsherface and get her to change it back."

"Sabrina," Liam said.

"Huh?" Theo asked.

"Her name is Sabrina apparently," Liam said.

"What? Like Sabrina the teenage witch?" Theo asked, smirking. "What a cliché."

"You know that show?" Liam asked incredulously.

"Well yeah, I used to be a kid who watched cartoons every morning, same as you," Theo pointed out. "And my sister loved that show."

Liam looked at him, eyes drawn up to Theo's hair, which was tinted a light pinky-orange. Amusement. He thought this whole thing was funny. Liam rolled his eyes. Typical.

"So," Theo said after a minute of easy silence. "Friday night, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Liam admitted. "I don't feel like going out though."

"Yeah, me either," Theo agreed. "Night in it is. Pizza and video games."

"Perfect," Liam smiled. Theo glanced at him, eyes flicking up to his hair again. Liam blushed. He knew what colour it probably was.

They pulled into the driveway and Liam hopped out of the car, walking quickly inside the house. He dumped his school bag at the foot of his bed and walked into the bathroom, examining his reflection. Sure enough, a deep red tipped with pink. Fuck, he was so screwed.

His eyes drifted down to the sink, spotting the electric razor that Theo used to shave with. His eyes lit up. This, this was the perfect solution.

He picked it up, turning it on.

"What are you doing?" Theo asked, opening the door between his room and the bathroom, eyes widening as he looked at the razor halfway up to Liam's head. "No!" He objected.

"What?" Liam asked. "Why not?"

"God, you'd look so stupid with a buzz cut," Theo said. "You can't do that to me."

Liam looked at him, confused. Why would Theo care if he cut his hair?

He voiced it. "Why do you care?"

Theo sighed, shoulders slumping. He averted his gaze as his hair slowly started turning a deep, vibrant red, the pink tips darker than Liam's. He looked ridiculous, but Liam's heart started to beat faster, his eyes flicking between Theo's hair and his face.

"Me too, okay?" Theo muttered.

Liam lowered the razor. "You mean it?" He asked, his voice hoarse.

"Oh yeah," Theo said, glancing up at him. "I definitely mean it."

"Well shit," Liam said, utterly floored. "Now what?"

"I have no idea," Theo admitted. "I've never-"

His hair was becoming a lighter pink, and Liam's heart fluttered. God, he was so beautiful.

He approached him, eyes intent on his lips, reaching for him. "Never done this before," Theo whispered.

Liam smiled, one hand reaching up to cup his cheek. "I'm sure you'll be a natural," he murmured.

And then closed the distance, kissing him every ounce of pent-up frustration and lust and love that he'd kept bottled up for months now. When he pulled away, Theo looked dazed, his hair bright pink.

"Wow," he said, brushing a finger over his lips.

Liam smirked, leading him backwards through the door into his bedroom. "I think I can do better," he grinned, kicking the door shut behind him.


End file.
